Saturday, May 3, 2008

Crosman Phantom 500 Disassembly guide

Bylosttourist

HelloI’d like to start by stating that this was my first attempt at tuning an air rifle. I used a combination of guides found online from various sources including Charlie da tuna and information from several air gun discussion groups. I decided to make a guide specifically for the Crosman Phantom 500 .22 cal air rifle since there were none to be found at this time.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage done to you or your air rifle thru the use of this document. It is strictly a guide. Your results will vary depending on your own abilities.That said if you take it slow and work methodically you should be able to achieve successful results.

First things first: Make sure the rifle is uncocked! The safety should be on as well.Now onto the tear down.1: Remove the 2 forward stock screws and washers.2: Remove the 1 screw behind the trigger.3: Remove the receiver from the stock.

4: Break the barrel free but do not cock it! Remove the barrel block pivot bolt to separate it from the receiver forks.

5:Separate the sliding block from away from the receiver.

6: Next you have to unhook the sliding block spring from the trigger block. Unhook it at the front leaving it hooked at the back on the trigger block. You can now remove the e clip as well.

7: Now remove the trigger block retention screw, I used a pair of vice grips.

8: Next comes the removal of the lock pin. When this is removed the spring will be released. This could pose a risk of injury. It is recommended that you use a spring compressor prior to completely punching out the lock pin. I did a really fast spring compressor for this job. Alternately for the disassembly part of the gun you can do this step without a compressor by butting the flat part of the end cap against a bench while pushing the receiver against it with force.Then punch out the lock pin with a wooden dowel or a screw driver and a mallet. Once the pin is out while still retaining pressure on the receiver, pull out the dowel or screwdriver now in the hole. Slowly back off the pressure as the spring pushes out the end cap. Voila!

Similarly when putting it all back together you can try to do it the same way without a compressor just in reverse order. However putting it back is a little more difficult as you have to line it up right and put the lock pin back in. If you decide to put in a new stronger spring it will prove even more difficult without a compressor. It is your choice how you proceed.9:Now you can remove the rear spring guide followed by the spring.

10:Remove the trigger block from the receiver.

11:Take the tophat off then pull the piston out using a screwdriver thru the slot of the receiver. My tophat did not fall out on its own. Seems there was some corrosion keeping it stuck in the piston. I sanded her down smooth before reassembly. (the above diagram is taken from a web source)

Congratulations ! You have now disassembled your Crosman Phantom 500 ! To reassemble your air rifle is basically the reverse of what you have done. Take care when you put back your piston. Make sure it is lubed lightly with silicone oil or dielectric grease on the seal and moly grease on the outside of the piston. (Not the seal) Align the long slot of the piston with the long slot of the receiver. You can use a dowel to push the piston all the way into the receiver.

Now that you have successfully taken apart your air rifle you can do a tune. Which may include upgrades such as springs or piston change that’s up to you. Tuning is another guide which you should be able to find online. A basic lube tune involves getting rid of the factory lubes some sanding etc. In my tune I replaced the 500 piston with a Phantom 1000 piston. I kept the original spring. I cleaned all the parts, sanded the spring ends and any rough spots I found on the receiver slots etc. Lubed it lightly with moly grease. My phantom is now a smooth firing powerhouse, and no factory twannnnggg!!

I have ordered a crosman phantom 1000 piston/seal from scopesandammo.com and I am wondering what does the fps go up to? and i am also wondering is it hard to get the spring and the piston back in the gun, like do you need a lot of force to get it back in?

Hi your velocities should increase similarly to my posted results. Everything depends on pellet choice and the gun itself. No two guns will shoot identical. You should be able to get your gun shooting at the high 600s to 700 with crosman hollowpoints.

Take care when you put back your piston. Make sure it is lubed lightly with silicone oil or dielectric grease on the seal and moly grease on the outside of the piston. (Not the seal) Align the long slot of the piston with the long slot of the receiver. You can use a dowel to push the piston all the way into the receiver.You dont need a lot of lube. Use sparingly!As to how hard it is to put back, if you keep the same spring you should be able to manage the pressure. You can make it easier by butting it up against a hard surface while pushing the whole assembly in.

Thanks for your helpful write-up! I have a Phantom 500 (looking to upgrade to 1000) and was wondering what the difference was between the 500 piston you replaced, and the 1000 piston you put in. Is it just the length? Thanks!

Yes the 500 piston is 2 inches shorter than the 1000. Therefore you could cut the 500 piston down. Cut it down 2".extend the channel for the cocking arm and drill/cut a new trigger tab hole with the same spacing from the end as it was before you cut it. WarningIf you too short or put the trigger hole too far towards the piston head you will have problems.

Zach! NO! absolutely no wd40! Keep anything with Petroleum distillates away from your gun. It will kill your seals and orings. Not to mention dieseling effects which are bad. As for a video I may do one when I do the Benjamin Classic upgrade. Im not sure I understand why you cant get the pivot bolt out.

Thanks kindly for the guide.I just swapped the piston and spring in my Phantom 500 and this being the first time tearing into it, the walk through was great reference.I am now getting consistent shots @ 900fps over the Chrony.Next is the Benjamin Classic .22 which only requires the piston. For anyone interested, the Classic .22 has the same internals as the Phantom so this guide will also help with that.

I just swapped the piston and spring in my Phantom 500..........getting consistent shots @ 900fps over the Chrony.Where did you get the spring? I thought that the stock spring was best. ScopesAndAmmo have the piston and seal.

Is your phantom a .177 cal ? I'm guessing that's what it is with that high velocity of 900fps. Mine is .22 cal. I've thought of adding some washers to get a bit more velocity increase, but don't want it to become to harsh a shooter.

If by better you mean velocity, the .177 will shoot faster. So if that's what you are asking the .177is the higher velocity gun. The .22 however will give you a higher energy impact due to the weight of the pellet. For example:a .22 cal pellet weighing 14.3ggoing at 700fps will produce 15.6 foot pounds energy or 21.10 joules.whereas a .177 cal pellet weighing7.9g going at 900fps will produce14.21 foot pounds energy or 19.27 joules.So as you can see in the above scenario even though the .22 is travelling at a slower speed of 700fps it produces more fpe than the .177 pellet travelling 900 fps.So which is better, it's all up to you to decide. I used to shoot strictly .177 but since I tried the .22 I really enjoy shooting that caliber better. There is nothing wrong with the .177 cal it is strictly my preference. Hope this answers your question.

It is a lot like the super streak though it is not the same length. The super streak measures49.75" long while the classic is 43.75". I presume it is as you say a spring and piston away from being as powerful as the superstreak. I've heard from a reliable source that replacement parts wont be available for about 5-6 months. So I'd be looking at around the fall of 2009 to be able to tune it to the superstreak's specs.No I haven't found any parts diagrams at this time for the Classic.Though I like the Phantom, I can tell you that I feel the Classic to be a much better gun. It shoots so much smoother in my opinion. As I've mentioned on my blog the thumbhole stock gives you total control of the rifle. The scope included is also a very nice one with adjustable objective.

Yes the 500 piston is 2 inches longer than the 1000. The shorter piston allows for more swept volume, giving you more power. The 1000 spring is different than the 500. At the time of the tune the 1000 spring did not fit into that current phantom 500 model. I have heard that later model phantoms may accomodate the 1000 spring, but I cannot confirm this. Just replace the piston it's a good upgrade on its own.

I was just going to purchase a new piston but I have a lot of metal working tools so on your advice I am modifying my existing piston.

I cut off 2 inches with a chop saw and created a new trigger lock slot, and the gun cocks fine (and it fully compresses the spring too which is good), but I neglected to lengthen the cocking slot on the piston so I couldn't get the barrel closed once it was cocked. Doh. I'll fix it and then post my results.

Just a note that if you go this route the steel the piston is made of is super hard, none of my drill bits would touch it. The only effective tools I found that worked well were the thin dremel cutoff wheels and the dremel grinding bits.

Hi Losttourist, I have a crossman 500 and was looking to upgraded it. To upgrade it i need to replace the spring and piston right? Could you possibly give the dimensions of the upgraded spring? because i found a website but do not know which spring to get

The upgrade I performed did not include a spring replacement. I used the phantom 500 spring that was in the gun to begin with. I have heard that the quest/phantom 1000 spring did not fit early models of the phantom 500. I can not confirm this but I believe later models of the phantom now can accept the 1000 spring. Best bet for your I guess if you want to change the spring, go ahead and order the spring and see if it fits. However by just replacing the piston and polishing and deburring the internals you will get a decent increase in fps. Check out the Crosman website for the spring part number.

I recently purchased a piston, seal and spring from ScopesAndAmmo.com for 45.75 shipped.

I ordered the spring because I was tuning the Phantom .177 version (from Cdn/Tire). The .177 spring is about 1.5 inches shorter then the one in the Phantom 1000.

To remove the spring I didn't need a spring compressor because the spring was so short. All I had to do was push the pin out with a screw driver. But it took some work putting the pin back in with the new spring.

I thought I had posted my comment but I don't see it. So I'll post it again. I don't have a chorny so I can't give you any numbers. But, when I use PBA pellets I do hear a sonic crack. So with PBA pellets I'm getting at least 1150 fps. I would assume that with lead pellets I should average 900 fps.

The piston simply replaces the stock 500 piston. No mods needed to fit it in. You should however check that any burrs on the receiver tube are removed,polish as needed. If there are any burrs you may damage your seal on your piston as you insert it back in.

Hey, thank you very much for you post, it helps me a lot increasing my passion to modify my own phantom 500 to a higher lever.I'd like to know the difference when you hear the shooting sounds before and after. It is good to make it possessing better fps, but will it increase the sound a lot? or just a little bit?

Just bought, the crossman phantom 500 .22. I switched the piston to a 1000 piston, but i also drilled the transfer hole out to .128 a #30 drill. Wich is about .015 bigger than the stock transfer hole. After a few very powerful shots, the pressure just seems to plummet and the shots become less powerful than the stock phantom 500. Any Ideas on how to fix this problem? Is the barrel heating up? Is there air passing the seal? Is the stock barrel seal not hard enough? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello It's been so long since I heard the stock phantom that I cant remember if the sound increased or not after the tune. I believe it may increase a little, but nothing extreme by any means.

Now as for the next comment regarding your power loss. Since I dont have any experience with drilling the transfer port, I have no idea what could have happened. You say you think the first couple of shots were very powerful then, it died. Maybe the seal on the piston is toast, dont know. I suggest you visit these sites and ask for help there.http://ultimateairguns.aimoo.com/General-Discussion-1-34465

I bought it last week, and plan to upgrade the Piston, Seal, and Spring to a Phantom 1000. I contacted Scopesandammo.com, including shipping; the total will be $46.33

A) Any word if the spring will fit my gun? or where I may be able to confirm if it will fit? Call Crosman directly?

B) The Phantom 1000 is a 0.17Cal correct? is there a 0.22Cal Phantom 1000 on the market? When ordering my spring/piston do I have to specify that I have the 0.22Cal, or will the 0.17Cal spring/piston fit?

C) If I swap the Piston, Seal, and Spring, what FPS can I expect from my gun?